Do You Really Know What You Sound Like
The 2010s were the decade when streaming let us explore music from around the world like never earlier. Musical genres no longer dictated what we listened to, and as a result, the biggest tastemakers made music that combined influences from all over the musical spectrum.
At the same fourth dimension, nosotros craved something real. Fantastical displays of reinvention from icons like David Bowie, Prince and Madonna were once historic, simply every bit we became infected with Facetune, reality Idiot box and simulated news, people craved authenticity. More musicians opened up and revealed themselves than always earlier, canceling the "pop deity" routine in favor of relatability. These artists gave us hope, made united states of america dance and showed us how to resist fitting into just one box.
Kendrick Lamar
No musician had a finger on the trembling pulse of the nation like Lamar in the 2010s. Merely put — Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest rappers of all fourth dimension. Four albums and xiii Grammys later on, Lamar has cemented himself equally a vocalization for the culture.
He wasn't promising that all would get better, just proclaiming that "We gon' be alright!" is an instance of the kind of reassurance a generation of fearful young men and women needed. Named i of Time'due south almost influential people in the world in 2016, Lamar's 2017 album Damn became the commencement non-classical and non-jazz album to exist awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Central Tracks: "Alright," "Deoxyribonucleic acid," "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe"
Swedish vocalist-songwriter Jonna Lee's audiovisual projection was the decade's first taste of a viral video entrada on YouTube. Each week, the YouTube channel iamamiwhoami would upload haunting, distorted video clips of a blonde woman in the woods with hidden messages and codes for viewers to decipher.
Music critics and viewers alike took the bait, debating on whether it was Björk, Goldfrapp or Christina Aguilera. It was the get-go (and most unique to date) sense of taste of artists using YouTube to create mystery and intrigue. Later releasing an audiovisual album and putting on a so-chosen performance fine art "concert" as iamamiwhoami, Lee launched a solo career as ionnalee, calling it a continuation of her YouTube channel persona.
Primal Tracks: "B," "Fountain," "O"
M83
Anthony Gonzalez's post-rock project M83 found its footing in the 2000s with an exhilarating blend of shoegaze and dream-popular. Just it wasn't until their Grammy-nominated 2011 album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming that the world paid attention to their signature symphonic '80s synth sounds.
The album'southward atomic number 82 unmarried, "Midnight City," provided the world with an inescapable earworm that sounded like it came straight out of a 1980s prom, saxophone solo included. Synth-pop was suddenly cool again. Inspired by bands with a penchant for ambient music, similar My Encarmine Valentine, Pink Floyd, M83 fabricated synth-pop cool again and kicked off a decade-long trend of musicians revisiting what fabricated '80s pop and so catchy.
Key Tracks: "Midnight City," "Intro (feat. Zola Jesus)," "Time Wind (feat. Beck)"
M.I.A.
Thousand.I.A. expertly composite hip-hop with seldom-heard rhythms from countries and genres across the world in the 2000s, with her breakout song "Paper Planes" kickstarting her mainstream popularity and success. In the 2010s, she kept her global sound but focused her message on even more politically charged themes, leading the decade in protestation music.
She warned us that our digital data was being collected by the government. She told us that the border crisis would threaten the lives of immigrant refugees. She even co-wrote a song about paying ameliorate attention to facts with WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange. She brought the noize and rallied her fans to accept action, all while giving us memorable collaborations with mega-stars similar Madonna and Nicki Minaj.
Key Tracks: "Borders," "Bad Girls," "Born Gratis"
Drake
Drake's reign was all over the 2010s, then was his music. Releasing five successful studio albums and three mixtapes in a decade is no like shooting fish in a barrel accomplishment, particularly considering how many genres he explored throughout his catalog.
No artist quite exemplifies how blended musical genres became similar Drake. The musician easily coasted through rap, bounce, dancehall, trap pop and R&B, all while topping the charts and ending the need to categorize performers. With over 170 million records sold, the four-time Grammy Accolade-winner is one of the world'due south best-selling musicians. Drake is as well a multi-record holder when it comes to the Billboard charts, including the most charted songs amidst solo artists in the history of the Billboard Hot 100.
Key Tracks: "Started From the Bottom," "Hold On, Nosotros're Going Home," "Overnice for What"
Salem
The emo mallrats who bought their favorite pop-punk bands' merch at Hot Topic largely dominated the goth aesthetic in the early 2000s. In 2010, the Chicago trio Salem released King Night, an album that kidnapped the goth vibe along with music critics' attention with their scuzzy, bass-blasting business firm and hip-hop spell.
Salem were intentionally provocative, suspiciously demonic and proudly subversive towards the traditional music industry guidelines. They laid the groundwork for other jaded young musicians with trivial musical training to encompass music production, gothic tropes and a disregard for the rules. Not only was Salem decade-defining, but nosotros can't assistance simply feel that the trio paved the style for artists dominating the airwaves today — namely 5-time Grammy-winner Billie Eilish.
Key Tracks: "King Dark," "Redlights," "Hound"
Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey was Elizabeth Grant'south soft-spoken muse inspired by American nostalgia, tragic romance and trip-hop who sang torch songs well-nigh video games and blue jeans. When critics initially sparked net debates over her authenticity and credibility, they overlooked her proficient songwriting.
From 2012's Born to Die to 2019's Norman F****** Rockwell!, Del Rey'south signature affective inspired countless popular singers to embrace the beauty within pain. Her consistent lyrical prowess and spot-on cultural critiques have made her ane of the decade's great American songwriters. "A lot of my songs are not just simple verse-chorus pop songs," she told The Guardian. "They're more than psychological." Early on in her career, Del Rey was told this melancholy, Lynchian vibe wouldn't work on the radio, only, in the finish, she tapped into something we were all feeling.
Central Tracks: "Video Games," "Love," "The Greatest"
Lil Uzi Vert
The days of sounding like the toughest rapper in hip-hop were long gone in the 2010s. Instead, a collection of rappers from SoundCloud challenged each other to audio the most evasive and childish while covering heavy subjects like sex activity, drug use and violence.
Lil Uzi Vert's "XO TOUR Llif3" is the all-time example of a successful crossover from SoundCloud runway to Billboard nautical chart-topper. His debut studio anthology Luv Is Rage 2 (2017), on which "XO Bout Llif3" was the lead single, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, eventually going certified platinum. Needless to say, Lil Uzi Vert became the pop-punk power thespian of a sub-genre of rap that dominated the decade.
Central Tracks: "XO Bout Llif3," "Sanguine Paradise," "Futsal Shuffle 2020"
Lorde
At first, she was a sneering teenager who lamented nigh never being a royal. Then the world vicious in love with her thoughtful songwriting and melodramatic take on electropop. Suddenly, the soft-spoken singer was popular music royalty, hanging out with the likes of Taylor Swift and her accomplice of musicians, actors and models.
Lorde'south 2017 sophomore album Melodrama debuted at No. in the U.S. and earned her a Grammy nomination. Her vox wasn't full of the melisma that divas of prior decades used, making even her covers of songs by iconic artists like David Bowie and Björk transportive. Instead, her tricky, hushed cries paved the way for other whispering pop stars like Grimes and Billie Eilish.
Cardinal Tracks: "Royals," "Squad," "Green Light"
Frank Body of water
In July 2012, Body of water released his debut, the critically acclaimed Channel Orange. It wasn't just a fantastic, cohesive R&B album, only it also changed the conversation around an artist's personal life and sexuality.
Right earlier the album's release, Ocean confessed that his first dearest was for a man. Suddenly, rumors and conjecture savage to the wayside, and Ocean showed queer artists to follow how to take command of their own narratives. Later on, Bounding main chose not to submit Blonde for Grammys consideration, stating that the institution "just doesn't seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold downwards what I hold down."
Cardinal Tracks: "Nights," "Bad Religion," "Thinkin Tour You"
Diplo
Diplo is the superstar DJ and music producer who first worked with British-Sri Lankan power player M.I.A. Ever since he made her music take over clandestine nightclubs around the earth, the rest of the industry came calling.
Since so, he spent the decade working on his Jamaican dancehall project Major Lazer and producing mixtapes, albums and tracks with tastemakers from every genre. Fun fact: Diplo'south stage name is short for Diplodocus and comes from his babyhood love of dinosaurs. Information technology doesn't become cooler than that.
Central Tracks: "Lean On (feat. MØ)," "Spotter Out For This (Bumaye)," "Where Are Ü Now (feat. Skrillex & Justin Bieber)"
Beyoncé
It was the decade that made the diva an icon. Beyoncé started the decade with 4, where she experimented with R&B and ditched her focus on pop music. Then, she doubled downwardly on experimentation, releasing the self-titled, genre-blending visual album Beyoncé.
But with 2016's Lemonade, she composite trap, gospel, country, rock, reggae, soul and countless other influences while capturing the emotional duress of processing infidelity. In short, Beyoncé continues to be a living legend.
Key Tracks: "Countdown," "Drunk in Love (feat. Jay-Z)," "Formation"
Embankment Firm
The atmospheric dream-pop duo are experts at creating emotionally climactic symphonies. In the 2000s, their first two albums were devoted to the lo-fi chillwave sound that dominated the decade. But on 2010's Teen Dream, they raised the stakes with scenic peaks fueled by passion and nostalgia.
With each album that followed, Beach House'south sonic landscapes grew even more grandiose, which was plumbing equipment (and comforting) during such a tumultuous decade. In an interview with Pitchfork, vocalist Victoria Legrand commented on the fact that Embankment Firm is just composed of her and guitarist Alex Scally, proverb "[O]ne of the reasons this has been such a fulfilling experience for me is that with 2 people, it'south so much easier to achieve things that experience exciting and new."
Key Tracks: "10 Mile Stereo," "Myth," "Levitation"
James Blake
When the batteries wore out on dubstep's dominance in the 2000s, James Blake slowed downwardly dubstep's bassline and blended information technology with ambient, minimal R&B. Blake became the post-dubstep poster male child and has since collaborated with big names similar Bon Iver, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé.
4 albums subsequently, Blake's signature audio has held strong, achieving more critical acclaim with each release. He also ushered in a wave of soft-spoken, self-reflecting musicians like Sampha, Active Child and Rostam. Of Blake'due south unique sound, music critic Mark Fisher wrote that "listening back to Blake's records in chronological sequence is like hearing a ghost gradually assume fabric form."
Key Tracks: "The Wilhelm Scream," "Retrograde," "Modern Soul"
Imagine Dragons
In the 2010s, a mainstream rock band was difficult to find atop the charts. Imagine Dragons plant success by taking rock music and incorporating popular, EDM and hip-hop into their tracks. Information technology was a formula that worked beyond four chart-topping albums.
Did they upset rock purists and repel indie rock enthusiasts? Sure. But by experimenting with their sound and chasing trends from other genres, the band was able to proceed rock music from falling off the charts completely. In fact, the top three rock songs of the 2010s on the Billboard charts — "Believer," "Thunder" and "Radioactive" — all vest to Imagine Dragons.
Key Tracks: "Radioactive," "Thunder," "Natural"
Robyn
It was but 2010, but Robyn released the best pop song of the decade. With "Dancing On My Own," Robyn created the formula for every successful pop vocal for Taylor Swift and Katy Perry to follow: touches of disco and house music, emotional vulnerability and a message for the underdog.
Her Trunk Talk project was released in three glorious installments in 2010, and frankly, she didn't take to release annihilation else. Then came Honey in 2018 with even more incredible heartfelt songs for the trip the light fantastic floor. "[Beloved is about] this sweet place, like a very soft ecstasy," she told Pitchfork. "I danced a lot when I was making it."
Cardinal Tracks: "Dancing On My Own," "Indestructible," "Missing U"
Futurity
Future was on a curlicue in the 2010s in every sense of the give-and-take. He released 12 albums and mixtapes in a decade, with a itemize centered around drugs, drinking and immoderacy. Rapped through his signature relaxed, Motorcar-Tuned croon, Future was the poster male child of trap and grumble rap.
The rapper made Billboard 200 history when his 2017 albums Future and Hndrxx made him the first artist since 2014 to debut two No. 1 albums in sequent weeks. For other artists, having Time to come on one of your songs elevated the atmosphere to an ambience, Atlanta-cool. Try and find a smoother rap song that doesn't characteristic Future. You simply can't.
Key Tracks: "Mask Off," "March Madness," "Jumpman (feat. Drake)"
Psy
Naysayers dismissed Psy as a novelty. It'due south understandable. His video for "Gangnam Style" had all the ingredients of another flash-in-the-pan viral video. Non to mention, the song charted at #1 in over 30 countries, went 10x platinum in Australia and 5x platinum in the U.s. and, has over 3.3 billion YouTube views.
Merely people wanted more over-the-summit music videos and political party anthems. Enter K-pop. As the 2010s' MC Hammer, Psy got everyone upwards on their feet while introducing the Western music industry to Grand-pop. Acts similar 2NE1, BTS and Blackpink followed with their own elaborate music videos and legions of new fans.
Key Tracks: "Gangnam Mode," "Daddy (feat. CL)," "New Face"
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj was everywhere in the 2010s. Seriously, it was difficult to find a radio station or Billboard chart that Minaj wasn't on from week to calendar week. Information technology's because she possesses a unique versatility to appeal to serious hip-hop diehards and 8-year-quondam girls on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The rapper's kickoff studio anthology, Pink Fri, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went certified triple platinum. Known for her use of alter egos and accents, Minaj has sold an impressive 30 million singles as a pb creative person and a jaw-dropping threescore million singles as a featured artist. Needless to say, her albums, singles and guest features on rap, R&B and pop songs dominated the music world, making Minaj the undisputed queen of hip-hop in the 2010s.
Key Tracks: "Come on a Cone," "Beez in the Trap (feat. 2 Chainz)," "Chun-Li"
J Balvin
José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, meliorate known as J Balvin, is the Colombian vocalizer responsible for bringing Reggaeton dorsum from the early 2000s. But unlike the music from years ago, J Balvin sings virtually exclusively in Spanish.
Ever the trendsetter and boundary pusher, J Balvin was the first Latino artist to be a Lollapalooza headliner. Every bit of 2019, J Balvin has sold over 35 million singles and over 4 meg albums worldwide, certainly proving that Castilian-language music has a global audience.
Cardinal Tracks: "Mi Gente (feat. Willy William)," "Contra La Pared (feat. Sean Paul)," "Con Altura (feat. Rosalía & El Guincho)"
LCD Soundsystem
They're the band that couldn't quit. After 2010'southward This Is Happening, LCD Soundsystem went on a world bout that frontman James Murphy billed every bit the grouping's last. Diehard fans were devastated. Non fifty-fifty the documentary Close Up and Play the Hits to commemorate their final prove felt similar an appropriate end.
Much to fans' delight, the dance-punk powerhouses reunited a few years later to acme billings throughout the festival excursion. Coincidentally, their side by side new album American Dream gave them their outset number 1 Billboard album. The reunion also earned them critical success when the song "Tonite" won Best Dance Recording at the 2018 Grammy Awards, earning the band their first ever Grammy win. Calculated or non, it was a formula replicated by several other musical acts in the festival era.
Primal Tracks: "Dance Yrself Clean," "Oh Infant," "American Dream"
Kacey Musgraves
Musgraves' first two albums of the decade played by the rules of relatively traditional country music. But on 2018's Gold Hour, she created her ain mod, neo-traditional sound far more fitting for the 2010s.
Gilt 60 minutes brought disco, LGBT acceptance and psychedelics to a country record that resonated well beyond the country-music fan base, earning her new fans and several awards. In fact, Golden Hour won Album of the Year at the Grammys, the CMAs and the ACM awards, making Musgraves the sixth artist to win all three awards for the same album.
Key Tracks: "Merry Go 'Circular," "Space Cowboy," "Slow Fire"
Arcade Fire
Arcade Burn down proved that getting labeled "indie rock" doesn't have to keep yous from impacting the mainstream. The Suburbs, their third studio album, surprised the industry and listeners after taking home the Grammy Award and Juno Award for Album of the Year in 2011.
Their music continued Springsteen's tale of the working human being'due south struggles but evolved to comprise the decade's anxieties with symphonic, emotional dance-stone. The multi-instrumentalist band members are incredible to sentry live with them often trading out keyboards and bass guitars for instruments similar the glockenspiel, harp and hurdy-gurdy.
Cardinal Tracks: "One-half Light Two (No Celebration)," "Everything At present," "Reflektor"
Janelle Monáe
Similar David Bowie before her, Monáe's music was inspired by her muse. "Cindi Mayweather," an android from a hip, Metropolis-like future, mixed funk and electronic elements like early Prince and Janet Jackson earlier her. But Monáe'south message was different.
"I speak about androids because I think the android represents the new 'other'," Monáe told the London Evening Standard in 2013. "[West]chapeau I want is for people who experience oppressed or experience like the 'other' to connect with the music and to feel like, 'She represents who I am.'" Afterward two critically acclaimed albums, Monáe embraced her accurate self with Muddy Computer, empowering a new generation of "the other." Empowerment popular from the rising diva never sounded ameliorate.
Fundamental Tracks: "Tightrope (feat. Bad Boi)," "Electrical Lady (feat. Solange)," "Brand Me Feel"
Luis Fonsi
"Despacito," Fonsi's comeback song with Reggaeton fable Daddy Yankee, was more than 2017'south indisputable "Song of the Summer." It was the catalyst for the wave of Castilian/Latinx music to break through radio airwaves.
"Despacito" stands alone on YouTube with more than 6.6 billion views, making information technology the most viewed music video of all time. Every bit of 2018, "Despacito" has sold a record-breaking 11 million copies and, equally of Feb 2020, the music video for the song is the most-watched YouTube video of all fourth dimension with over six.vi billion views, surpassing even Psy's "Gangnam Style."
Key Tracks: "Despacito (feat. Daddy Yankee)," "Échame la Culpa (feat. Demi Lovato)," "Imposible (with Ozuna)"
Big Freedia
Bounce music is an energetic manner of New Orleans hip-hop music that pairs well with a skilled twerker on the dance flooring. No one could pb bounce music's parade into the global consciousness ameliorate than New Orleans-native Big Freedia.
You can hear her infectious vocalization in nautical chart-topping songs from Beyoncé and Drake to Sia and Diplo. Everyone wanted to get Freedia's lust for life captured in their music, lifting bounce'southward popularity in the process. Of Bounce, Freedia wrote that for her and other folks "who lived under such constant oppression — the violence, poverty, and homophobia — Bounce is our way to transmute that pain into joy."
Primal Tracks: "Karaoke (feat. Lizzo)," "Booty-Whop," "Explode"
Rihanna
Rihanna was already a bonafide pop star at the start of the decade, simply things needed to shift. Like Madonna and Christina Aguilera earlier her, she needed to accept ownership of her epitome and sound.
After seven successful albums, Rihanna released Anti, her most critically acclaimed album to date — and one that spanned genres, all while keeping her commanding edge at the forefront of each rail. A true diva knows when to switch things upwards. With over 250 million records sold, the nine-time Grammy Award-winner is one of the world's all-time-selling musicians.
Key Tracks: "We Establish Dear," "Work (feat. Drake)," "Needed Me"
The War on Drugs
The six-slice band from Philly found their sound somewhere in betwixt heartland stone, shoegaze and psychedelia. Both 2014'south Lost in the Dream and 2017's A Deeper Understanding served timeless indie rock for the long drive home.
There's no surprise that nostalgia was in overdrive during a decade of darkness, so there's no surprise critics loved getting lost in the dream with the grouping'southward comforting, borderline dad-rock. In fact, the always-cornball Grammy voters even awarded them All-time Rock Anthology for A Deeper Understanding.
Key Tracks: "Nether the Pressure," "Cherry-red Eyes," "Thinking of a Place"
Adele
Adele broke major records with 21 and 25, her accolade-winning albums that expertly blended folk, pop, Motown soul and Southern blues. Using her formula of melding honest, emotional songwriting with music that drew from genres of the past, Adele created albums that were simply timeless.
Simply wait at the charts for proof. Her 2011 album 21 was the best-selling tape of 2011 and 2012, and has remained on the charts for a tape 450+ weeks. With sales of more than 120 million records, the Academy Award-winner is one of the earth's acknowledged artists.
Key Tracks: "Rolling in the Deep," "Someone Like You," "Hello"
Tame Impala
If you went to a music festival, any festival, the chances are high that Tame Impala was somewhere on the lineup. The psychedelic stone band started the decade with accusations of being a Beatles' Revolver cover ring — just with more than acid — simply they toured endlessly to make their proper name.
After iii albums, and after actualization in every bit many large-calibration music-festival circuits as possible, the ring divers themselves equally leaders of the next wave of advanced hitmakers. In recalling his origins as a musician, the band'due south founding member Kevin Parker told WOW Magazine that "When I started playing music I got [a sense of satisfaction] from making a vocal, fifty-fifty if it was but a few noises or drum patterns put together. Information technology was all about the fizz from making something from zippo."
Central Tracks: "Let Information technology Happen," "Feels Like We Just Become Backwards," "New Person, Same Onetime Mistakes"
Source: https://www.smarter.com/people/musicians-that-defined-the-2010s?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740011%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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